Desktop Support Contract Job Trends

Desktop Support
UK

The median Desktop Support daily rate in the UK is £200, according to job vacancies posted in the 6 months leading up to 29 October 2025.

The table below compares current contractor rates and summary statistics with the previous two years.

6 months to
29 Oct 2025
Same period 2024 Same period 2023
Rank 320 344 309
Rank change year-on-year +24 -35 +10
Contract jobs requiring a Desktop Support 262 223 362
As % of all contract jobs in the UK 0.77% 0.61% 0.77%
As % of the Job Titles category 0.84% 0.65% 0.82%
Number of daily rates quoted 172 138 256
10th Percentile £150 £135 £133
25th Percentile £159 £165 £150
Median daily rate (50th Percentile) £200 £206 £200
Median % change year-on-year -3.03% +3.13% -
75th Percentile £250 £237 £230
90th Percentile £278 £269 £288
UK excluding London median daily rate £200 £203 £200
% change year-on-year -1.23% +1.25% +2.56%
Number of hourly rates quoted 40 17 22
10th Percentile £13.75 £18.13 £16.54
25th Percentile £16.24 £22.22 £17.52
Median hourly rate £23.23 £24.18 £19.25
Median % change year-on-year -3.93% +25.61% +6.94%
75th Percentile £31.40 £27.25 £21.31
90th Percentile £33.75 £34.30 £24.05
UK excluding London median hourly rate £25.15 £24.18 £19.00
% change year-on-year +4.01% +27.26% +7.04%

All Contract IT Job Vacancies
UK

For comparison with the information above, the following table provides summary statistics for all contract IT job vacancies. Most job vacancies include a discernible job title that can be normalized. As such, the figures in the second row provide an indication of the number of contract jobs in our overall sample.

Contract vacancies in the UK with a recognized job title 31,067 34,177 44,069
% of contract IT jobs with a recognized job title 90.88% 92.89% 93.83%
Number of daily rates quoted 19,662 20,632 30,031
10th Percentile £280 £300 £300
25th Percentile £402 £413 £413
Median daily rate (50th Percentile) £500 £525 £525
Median % change year-on-year -4.76% - -4.55%
75th Percentile £620 £638 £650
90th Percentile £725 £738 £745
UK excluding London median daily rate £475 £490 £500
% change year-on-year -3.06% -2.00% -
Number of hourly rates quoted 1,719 1,308 1,535
10th Percentile £13.85 £15.05 £14.69
25th Percentile £17.30 £20.30 £19.06
Median hourly rate £25.15 £39.25 £45.00
Median % change year-on-year -35.92% -12.78% +62.28%
75th Percentile £50.00 £65.00 £65.00
90th Percentile £69.49 £73.75 £77.50
UK excluding London median hourly rate £25.00 £40.00 £44.50
% change year-on-year -37.50% -10.11% +89.36%

Desktop Support
Job Vacancy Trend

Historical trend showing the proportion of contract IT job postings featuring 'Desktop Support' in the job title relative to all contract IT jobs advertised.

Desktop Support job vacancy trend in the UK

Desktop Support
Daily Rate Trend

Contractor daily rate distribution trend for Desktop Support job vacancies in the UK.

Contractor daily rate distribution trend for Desktop Support job vacancies in the UK

Desktop Support
Daily Rate Histogram

Daily rate distribution for jobs citing Desktop Support over the 6 months to 29 October 2025.

Daily rate histogram for Desktop Support in the UK

Desktop Support
Hourly Rate Trend

Contractor hourly rate distribution trend for Desktop Support job vacancies in the UK.

Contractor hourly rate distribution trend for Desktop Support job vacancies in the UK

Desktop Support
Hourly Rate Histogram

Hourly rate distribution of jobs citing Desktop Support over the 6 months to 29 October 2025.

Hourly rate histogram for Desktop Support in the UK

Desktop Support
Top 17 Contract Job Locations

The table below looks at the demand and provides a guide to the median contractor rates quoted in IT jobs citing Desktop Support within the UK over the 6 months to 29 October 2025. The 'Rank Change' column provides an indication of the change in demand within each location based on the same 6 month period last year.

Location Rank Change
on Same Period
Last Year
Matching
Contract
IT Job Ads
Median
Daily Rate
Past 6 Months
Median Daily Rate
% Change
on Same Period
Last Year
Live
Jobs
England +33 239 £200 -6.98% 41
UK excluding London +10 177 £200 -1.23% 39
London +5 75 £200 - 21
North of England -3 50 £183 -9.88% 5
South West +31 48 £235 +6.82% 3
South East +5 34 £215 -3.37% 17
North West -5 29 £200 -1.23% 4
Midlands -6 28 £171 -2.29%
West Midlands -11 16 £175 +0.29%
East of England -16 13 £220 +10.00% 7
North East +3 12 £175 -
East Midlands -5 12 £158 -42.73%
Yorkshire -22 9 £200 -9.09% 1
Work from Home +11 7 £250 +20.63% 11
Scotland -22 7 £132 -11.62% 4
Wales +3 4 £169 -23.30% 3
Northern Ireland -9 4 £165 +6.45%

Desktop Support Skill Set
Top 30 Co-Occurring Skills & Capabilities

For the 6 months to 29 October 2025, Desktop Support contract job roles required the following skills and capabilities in order of popularity. The figures indicate the absolute number of co-occurrences and as a proportion of all contract job ads featuring Desktop Support in the job title.

1 145 (55.34%) Windows
2 122 (46.56%) Microsoft
3 117 (44.66%) Microsoft 365
4 103 (39.31%) Customer Service
5 100 (38.17%) Security Cleared
6 96 (36.64%) SC Cleared
7 89 (33.97%) Active Directory
8 74 (28.24%) ITIL
8 74 (28.24%) Windows 10
9 68 (25.95%) Microsoft Office
10 48 (18.32%) Service Management
11 46 (17.56%) Problem-Solving
12 44 (16.79%) ITSM
13 43 (16.41%) ServiceNow
14 42 (16.03%) Microsoft Exchange
15 40 (15.27%) Business Intelligence
15 40 (15.27%) SAP
16 39 (14.89%) Digital Marketing
16 39 (14.89%) Programme Management
17 38 (14.50%) Mac OS
18 34 (12.98%) Microsoft Intune
19 33 (12.60%) Workflow
20 32 (12.21%) Cisco
21 31 (11.83%) Android
21 31 (11.83%) Apple
21 31 (11.83%) Azure
22 30 (11.45%) Dell
22 30 (11.45%) HP
22 30 (11.45%) SCCM
22 30 (11.45%) Wireless

Desktop Support Skill Set
Co-Occurring Skills & Capabilities by Category

The following tables expand on the one above by listing co-occurrences grouped by category. They cover the same employment type, locality and period, with up to 20 co-occurrences shown in each category:

Application Platforms
1 42 (16.03%) Microsoft Exchange
2 21 (8.02%) SharePoint
3 2 (0.76%) Skype for Business
4 1 (0.38%) Exchange Server 2010
4 1 (0.38%) HCL Notes
Applications
1 68 (25.95%) Microsoft Office
2 25 (9.54%) Microsoft Excel
3 6 (2.29%) Spreadsheet
Business Applications
1 3 (1.15%) Remedy ITSM
2 1 (0.38%) Dynamics CRM
2 1 (0.38%) Eikon
2 1 (0.38%) Eze OMS
2 1 (0.38%) Fidessa
Cloud Services
1 117 (44.66%) Microsoft 365
2 31 (11.83%) Azure
3 18 (6.87%) OneDrive
4 6 (2.29%) Entra ID
5 2 (0.76%) Google Workspace
6 1 (0.38%) Power Platform
Communications & Networking
1 30 (11.45%) Wireless
2 24 (9.16%) VPN
3 14 (5.34%) DNS
4 13 (4.96%) DHCP
4 13 (4.96%) PABX
5 9 (3.44%) LAN
6 8 (3.05%) WAN
7 7 (2.67%) Firewall
7 7 (2.67%) TCP/IP
8 5 (1.91%) Structured Cabling
9 4 (1.53%) Remote Desktop
10 3 (1.15%) Skype
10 3 (1.15%) Telepresence
10 3 (1.15%) Unified Communications
10 3 (1.15%) VLAN
10 3 (1.15%) Wi-Fi
11 2 (0.76%) Internet
11 2 (0.76%) IP Telephony
11 2 (0.76%) VoIP
11 2 (0.76%) WLAN
Database & Business Intelligence
1 1 (0.38%) Power BI
General
1 142 (54.20%) Social Skills
2 84 (32.06%) Finance
3 49 (18.70%) Public Sector
4 40 (15.27%) Manufacturing
5 39 (14.89%) Analytical Skills
5 39 (14.89%) Electronics
5 39 (14.89%) Marketing
5 39 (14.89%) Telecoms
6 14 (5.34%) Banking
7 10 (3.82%) Front Office
8 7 (2.67%) Documentation Skills
9 6 (2.29%) Aerospace
10 5 (1.91%) Organisational Skills
11 4 (1.53%) Investment Banking
12 2 (0.76%) Legal
13 1 (0.38%) Financial Institution
13 1 (0.38%) Inclusion and Diversity
13 1 (0.38%) Pharmaceutical
13 1 (0.38%) Retail
13 1 (0.38%) Retail Banking
Libraries, Frameworks & Software Standards
1 1 (0.38%) FIX Protocol
1 1 (0.38%) X-Windows
Miscellaneous
1 23 (8.78%) Data Centre
2 22 (8.40%) Self-Motivation
3 15 (5.73%) Smartphone
4 14 (5.34%) Driving Licence
4 14 (5.34%) iPad
4 14 (5.34%) iPhone
5 10 (3.82%) Onboarding
6 9 (3.44%) Video Conferencing
7 4 (1.53%) Hedge funds
8 3 (1.15%) CMDB
8 3 (1.15%) Mobile App
8 3 (1.15%) Virtual Team
9 2 (0.76%) Tandem
10 1 (0.38%) BYOD
10 1 (0.38%) Data Protection Act
10 1 (0.38%) Enterprise Software
10 1 (0.38%) Fat Client
10 1 (0.38%) Legacy Applications
10 1 (0.38%) Legacy Systems
10 1 (0.38%) Thin Client
Operating Systems
1 145 (55.34%) Windows
2 74 (28.24%) Windows 10
3 38 (14.50%) Mac OS
4 31 (11.83%) Android
5 15 (5.73%) Apple iOS
6 7 (2.67%) Windows Server
7 3 (1.15%) Linux
7 3 (1.15%) Mac OS X
8 2 (0.76%) Windows 7
8 2 (0.76%) Windows 8
8 2 (0.76%) Windows Server 2012
8 2 (0.76%) Windows XP
Processes & Methodologies
1 103 (39.31%) Customer Service
2 74 (28.24%) ITIL
3 48 (18.32%) Service Management
4 46 (17.56%) Problem-Solving
5 44 (16.79%) ITSM
6 40 (15.27%) Business Intelligence
7 39 (14.89%) Digital Marketing
7 39 (14.89%) Programme Management
8 33 (12.60%) Workflow
9 24 (9.16%) Inventory Management
9 24 (9.16%) Patch Management
9 24 (9.16%) Time Management
10 23 (8.78%) Migration
11 19 (7.25%) Mobile Device Management
12 18 (6.87%) Service Delivery
12 18 (6.87%) Workflow Management
13 15 (5.73%) Asset Management
14 14 (5.34%) Data Analysis
15 12 (4.58%) Antivirus Management
16 11 (4.20%) Collaborative Working
Programming Languages
1 18 (6.87%) PowerShell
2 3 (1.15%) SQL
3 1 (0.38%) Python
Qualifications
1 100 (38.17%) Security Cleared
2 96 (36.64%) SC Cleared
3 25 (9.54%) Degree
4 14 (5.34%) Microsoft Certification
5 12 (4.58%) ITIL Certification
6 8 (3.05%) ITIL Foundation Certificate
7 5 (1.91%) BPSS Clearance
8 4 (1.53%) DBS Check
9 3 (1.15%) A+ Certification
9 3 (1.15%) Computer Science Degree
10 2 (0.76%) DV Cleared
10 2 (0.76%) MCSE
11 1 (0.38%) CCNA
11 1 (0.38%) Cisco Certification
11 1 (0.38%) Dell Certification
11 1 (0.38%) MCP
11 1 (0.38%) MCSA
11 1 (0.38%) MOS
Quality Assurance & Compliance
1 27 (10.31%) SLA
2 12 (4.58%) QA
3 7 (2.67%) GDPR
4 4 (1.53%) ISO/IEC 27001
5 1 (0.38%) COBIT
System Software
1 89 (33.97%) Active Directory
2 16 (6.11%) Virtual Desktop
3 6 (2.29%) BitLocker
4 3 (1.15%) vSphere
5 2 (0.76%) Firmware
5 2 (0.76%) XenApp
6 1 (0.38%) Virtual Machines
6 1 (0.38%) VMware ESXi
6 1 (0.38%) VMware Infrastructure
6 1 (0.38%) Xen
Systems Management
1 34 (12.98%) Microsoft Intune
2 30 (11.45%) SCCM
3 2 (0.76%) McAfee ePO
3 2 (0.76%) Norton AntiVirus
Vendors
1 122 (46.56%) Microsoft
2 43 (16.41%) ServiceNow
3 40 (15.27%) SAP
4 32 (12.21%) Cisco
5 31 (11.83%) Apple
6 30 (11.45%) Dell
6 30 (11.45%) HP
7 13 (4.96%) Citrix
8 11 (4.20%) McAfee
9 8 (3.05%) Bloomberg
10 7 (2.67%) Starlink
11 6 (2.29%) Wyse
12 5 (1.91%) Remedy
12 5 (1.91%) VMware
13 2 (0.76%) Aerohive Networks
13 2 (0.76%) AVG
13 2 (0.76%) Canon
13 2 (0.76%) ConnectWise
13 2 (0.76%) GFI Software
13 2 (0.76%) Xerox